Comets fly high in Sophomore Day win

Like a student approaching a final exam, the Western Iowa Tech basketball team is synthesizing a season's worth of hard-earned lessons into a last hurrah.

On Saturday afternoon, the Comets raised their grade.

The Comets (8-18 overall, 4-13 ICCAC) won their home finale 94-82 over Northeast by demonstrating growth in former areas of weakness. They beat the Hawks on the glass, at the foul line and during crunch time as WIT's four sophomores played key parts in the victory.

"After the game they was really pumped up, they were really excited," Comets head coach Harvis "CoCo" Cofield said.

Sophomores Jailyn Spears (10 rebounds) and Latrel Davis (11) each had 23-point double-doubles to lead the Comets, who won the battle of the boards for the second straight game.

"The sophomores have really been stepping up the last couple games," Cofield said. "I think it came down to a point where they realize, 'Wow, my sophomore year is almost done, and I want to go out with a bang.'"

Spears went 10-for-18 from the floor as one of four Comets to shoot at least 50% from the field.

"I'm really excited about him and excited about his future," Cofield said. "He's a very bright student. He's been playing very well for us. We're going to be riding him until the final buzzer."

Bie Ruei finished with 13 points (5-for-9) and a team-high five assists. Keishaun Pendleton had 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting to go with four assists.

The Comets won the rebounding battle 36-33. It may be a narrow margin, but after a seven-game stretch of being outrebounded ended last Wednesday against North Iowa Area, maintaing the rebounding edge feels like a major victory.

Before each game, Cofield writes his "Keys To Winning" on the locker room white board.

"That's the first thing I put on the board --- rebound, rebound, rebound," Cofield said. 

Pendleton and Zeb Svoboda had four rebounds a piece, while Ruei and Juvares Safford each had three, to complement the efforts of Spears and Davis.

The Comets finished 20-for-26 from the free throw line, proof of the team's increased emphasis on getting to the line and making opponents pay when they get there. 

"The last couple (games) we've been stressing, 'Get to the line. Keep attacking the paint. Make them call fouls. Just keep attacking the paint so we can get foul calls and we can get to the line.'

"But you gotta knock them down, you gotta make your free throws."

Safford made both of his field goals, but it was his inside presence and 6-for-7 day at the foul line that earned him a career-high 10 points.

The Hawks (10-16 overall, 4-13 ICCAC) were 10 of 16 from the line.

WIT's aggression had a secondary benefit when Davis' drive with 5 minutes to play drew a fifth foul from Northeast's leading scorer Vincent Garrett, who fouled out with 21 points and six assists.

"We had some good one-on-one opportunities to get to the basket, and we used it to our advantage," Cofield said.

When the Hawks scored to make it 76-69 with 8:21 left in the game, the door was open with plenty of time for a comeback. Instead, the Comets found another gear, with most possessions resulting in either a high-percentage shot or free throws.

"When we played them the first time (January 20) we ended up losing to them down the stretch at their place," Cofield said. "(We) felt like (we) could have won that game. Like I keep telling them, 'You gotta finish, gotta finish, gotta finish.'"

Freshman Pendleton answered with back-to-back lay-ups followed by a bucket and two free throws from Davis as the WIT defense kept Northeast off the scoreboard until just 2:47 remained and the WIT lead was back to 84-69.

"We kind of settled down, started playing our pace the way we wanted to play the game," Cofield said.

The Comets honored their four sophomores -- Davis, Ruei, Spears and guard Ahmad Ingram -- in a brief ceremony right before tip-off and that seemed to carry over to the game. 

"We had a good crowd, the energy level was good," Cofield said. "The 1 p.m. game – that's the best I ever seen it."

WIT's season finale is at Iowa Central at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Comets beat the Tritons 77-62 at home on January 17, but are heading to Fort Dodge knowing everything is earned. 

"It's not going to be a cupcake game. We're playing at their place (and) we haven't been doing so very good on the road," Cofield said. "It's going to be a tough matchup, it's never easy to win in this conference."

The Comets have an opporunity to close their first season on a three-game win streak, which would be a season-high. Cofield is thinking long-term about how success this spring will lead to stable program success.

"If we're able to finish strong it's going to carry over into spring practice, it's going to carry over into workouts, it's going to carry over into summertime," Cofield said. "And we're starting to really create the culture that we want here, the foundation."